Kamran Matin

Kamran Matin is an Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Sussex, School of Global Studies, and a Visiting Fellow at the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies since 2024. His work bridges international historical sociology, postcolonial theory, and critical IR to examine socio-political transformations in the Middle East, particularly Iran and Kurdistan.

• PhD in International Relations (University of Sussex, 2009)
• MSc in International Relations (University of Sussex, 2003)
• BA in Development Studies (University of East Anglia, 2002)

His research explores the international dimensions of revolutions, state formation, and nationalism through the lens of uneven and combined development. Recent focus areas include the Kurdish question as colonial issue, gender/sexuality in Iran, and Rojava's democratic confederalism. Publications span journals like Nations and Nationalism, Geopolitics, and Journal of Historical Sociology, with recurring themes of anti-capitalism, eco-feminism, and decolonial statecraft.

Articles highlight trends in critical Middle Eastern studies and global historical sociology, often challenging orientalist narratives. Key awards include a Research Associate fellowship at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (2017) and editorial roles in the Palgrave 'Minorities in West Asia and North Africa' series. He supervises PhD projects on the Rojava revolution, Iranian ideological hegemony, and Syrian rural-urban dynamics.